Reader's Theater in Miss Kelly's First Grade Classroom

Students in Miss Kelly's class performed the poem, Halloween Night.  This is a great way to teach fluency and reading with voice to young students.  They were so proud to say each of their lines!  

Trick or Treat!!!

Happy Halloween!  The tradition at EES is for kindergarten students to dress in their costumes and parade throughout the school.  Today was such a fun day for them.  Students in grades 1-5 thoroughly enjoy watching our youngest students come through their classrooms in costume.  Check out Mrs. Roberts, aka, "The Count!"

WIN Time at EES (What I Need!)

 As many of you know, WIN means "What I Need".  "What I Need" is different for every student at EES.  Some students work in a small group with an adult focused on targeted skill development, while others might be working independently on specific work that their teacher assigns.  I walked around today during WIN time to observe the level of student engagement.  I am pleased to say that students working independently were focused and engaged, and knew specifically what they should be doing.  I have included pictures of what WIN looks like at different grade levels.  The ones I included are of children not working directly with a staff member in a group.  I also included various directions that I saw on whiteboards or Activboards and some student work samples.  Teachers are very clear with students on what their focus is and children are able to explain this.  Some are working on "must do's" while others might work off of a choice menu.  

A colleague recently shared an article with me on school attendance and I thought I would share some interesting information with you.  Our staff routinely looks at student achievement data and sees the connection between being in school and student success.  I feel it is important to share this information with parents so that they can understand the importance of their children being in school every day!

Educators understand the importance of school attendance -- as we often say, "You can't teach an empty desk." And schools have mechanisms in place to track it, including average daily attendance (ADA) and truancy. But neither of those measures addresses chronic absenteeism.

Chronic absenteeism is typically defined as missing 10 percent or more of a school year -- approximately 18 days a year, or just two days every month. And across the nation, 5 to 7.5 million students are chronically absent.

While this issue is more often discussed at the middle and high school level (and is quite important there, as chronic absence in middle school is a clear predictor of dropping out, and by ninth grade, attendance is a better predictor of dropping out than test scores), it surprisingly relevant to elementary schools -- and even preschools -- as well. Nationally, one in 10 kindergarten and first grade students miss the equivalent of a month of school -- in some schools and districts, it is as many as one in four. And new research out of Chicago indicates that the problem is even larger in preschool, with almost half of three-year-olds and more than one-third of four-year-olds chronically absent.

Missing school -- at whatever level -- has consequences for children. The Chicago research found that students who are chronically absent in preschool end the year with lower skills, as measured by the district's kindergarten readiness tool, than those who attend (and kindergarten readiness is linked tolater academic success). Other research has shown that chronic absence in kindergarten and first grade leads to lower performance in third grade, which is tied to decreased attendance in sixth and ninth grade and an increased risk of dropping out.

To see the full article, go to  http://www.edutopia.org/blog/addressing-chronic-absenteeism-anne-obrien  

As parents and educators, we send a loud message to students at the elementary level when we demonstrate the importance of being in school.  It is important to develop good habits as early as preschool.

Tea Stained Art

Tea Stained Art

It was great to wander into the art room today and see a wonderful collaborative project between Mrs. Doherty and fifth grade teachers.  Pictured are Maddy Lawler and Dylan Burbridge.  These students explained to me that they made tea stained canvasses that look like parchment.  They steeped a tea bag in hot water and then dragged it over the canvas.  Once this process was done, they created a map that looked very authentic.  These students were able to share with me that they are learning about the Silk Road trading route in Social Studies.  Maddy explained that the Silk Road was the trading route between Asia and Europe.  Soldiers were blocking this route, so Columbus decided to try a route on the ocean.  Columbus was trying to find Asia but found South America instead.  He died thinking this really was Asia.  These two fifth graders were very articulate and clear in their learning about Columbus and how this connected to their art work. Congratulations to them both and to their teachers for making such a great connection between art and SS.  

Thank you to the EES PTO for sponsoring a wonderful author visit for our 4th and 5th graders!
A big shout out to Sara Wolf for arranging this!
Be sure to ask your children what they learned about the writing process.
Here is Mr. Mone's bio:

A history major at Harvard (class of 1998), Mr. Mone's authoritative, detailed descriptions of the sights, the stench, the sounds, routines, and the governance aboard the old pirate sloop are the results of almost three years of research.

A practiced researcher, Mr. Mone is a contributing editor for Popular Science, and author of the novel, "Wages of Genius," and the science and technology spoof, "The Truth About Santa: Wormholes, Robots, and What Really Happens on Christmas Eve." He says, "A lot of times, when doing research for a novel, it puts a damper on your enthusiasm, but in this case, the histories, the research about Ireland and pirates — there were pirates all over Ireland — it backed up all my wild ideas and enthusiasm."

The author, who has duel citizenship in the United States and Ireland, worked briefly as a banker after college, then moved to Ireland where he worked as a paralegal. Now at home in Canton with his wife, Nika, and three young children, he says, "I didn't think I'd wind up doing historical fiction, but doing this book brought me back to my training."

He has a confident, straightforward writing style, infused with humor that moves the story along quickly. The ship's crew includes the vicious and deceitful Scab; the mute, Oxford-educated, giant Moravius; and Fish's allies: Nora, the savvy young cook, and his shipmates Nate and Daniel. Captain Cobb and his wife Melinda, although both hardened and tough, bring a degree of integrity to their larceny.

Fish himself turns out to be rather surprising. Once among the taunting, hazing pirates, Fish takes a stand as a pacifist. He will swab the decks and do all manner of disgusting jobs aboard ship, but he will not fight, despite the goading and provocation. But with help from his friend Daniel, he manages to save both his face and his hide.

"Fish" reads too well to not have been enjoyable to write. Mr. Mone, a full-time writer for the past five years, admits to having a fine time doing it. He drew inspiration from the Vineyard, where he wrote the book while staying with his in-laws, Nick and Nina Thayer.

"The Vineyard Haven harbor inspired my book," he says, noting that his feelings as the ferry approached its slip, the smells and sounds in the harbor, informed his work.

He also personal experiences to draw on: Years of listening to the family stories about Ireland, the pirate games he invented for his nieces and nephews, and like Fish, his own prowess as a swimmer; once New York state champion, he competed in national events. (Mone is also an avid surfer, a regular presence at Long Point.)

Fish is the first in what Mr. Mone hopes will be a series of three books. We can only anticipate more gently doled out life lessons; great adventures, and an entertaining cast of fascinating characters.

Mr Mone signed copies of his new book, Fish, for our students!

New Science Opportunity for MERSD

Faculty from MERSD aboard the Schooner Adele!  Read below to learn more about this exciting opportunity!

Maritime Gloucester Expands Ocean Explorers Program to

All Cape Ann Students

Maritime Gloucester is expanding its core marine science education program, Ocean Explorers, to include the Cape Ann communities of Manchester, Essex and Rockport, as well as Gloucester. More than 1400 third, fourth and fifth grade students will participate in this hands-on and experiential marine science program.

Maritime Gloucester’s Ocean Explorers program is built around a series of six contacts for each of the participating classes. Each class comes to Maritime Gloucester for two field trip days – one in the fall and one in the spring – to participate in marine and physical science activities in classrooms and the laboratory, as well as aboard the Schooner Ardelle.  The program also includes four visits to the students' classrooms by Maritime Gloucester educators. 

“This proven program has grown and evolved over the years based on the input of students and teachers in the Gloucester schools, as well as feedback from fishermen, scientists, volunteers and members of our extended Maritime Gloucester family,” said Tom Balf, Executive Director of Maritime Gloucester. “We are thrilled to now offer students from all of Cape Ann a program that provides common marine experiences and classroom activities that connect them to their ocean world in a meaningful way.”

The expansion is made available through a 3-year educational grant from the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA).  Additional funding is provided by local organizations, such as the Educational Foundation for Rockport, and regional foundations such as the McCarthy Family and Amelia Peabody Foundations. Maritime Gloucester continues to seek funding to support the initiative. 

Scott Morrison, Director of Curriculum and Instructional Technology at Manchester Essex Regional School District, said “we welcome an opportunity to use a schooner, built in Essex by the Burnham Family Boatyard, as a research and educational vehicle and to connect our students to the marine science and maritime heritage assets found at Maritime Gloucester.”

According to Balf, Maritime Gloucester offers a wide variety of educational programs throughout the year in addition to Oceans Explorers.  These programs, which last year exceeded 4,500 students, include field trips, weekly and daily programs on topics such as robotics, biomimicry, schooner sailing and marine art, fisheries and seafood related workshops, and boat building. We also offer internships for high school and college students.  For a full list of programs visit Maritime Gloucester's web site at www.maritimegloucester.org.

Background on Ocean Explorers and Maritime Gloucester

With respect to field trips at Maritime Gloucester, each class rotates through three one-hour learning units, including life science sessions in our classroom, digital microscope lab, and touch tank aquariums, and physical science sessions in our boat house. Students also sail in Gloucester Harbor aboard our research equipped schooner the Ardelle, which is berthed at our docks, and is designed, built and captained by noted shipwright and Essex resident Harold Burnham. In the winter, Maritime Gloucester educators present four one hour in-class “learning sessions” or “units” for each of the classrooms. The purpose of these lessons is to further develop and reinforce the subjects explored during the site visits. Content is integrated with the 3^rd, 4^thand 5^th grade science content and pacing based on interactions and communications with teachers.

Third grade units focus on science content, how to pose questions for scientific study, field observations and development of science process skills. Fourth grade units focus on the introduction of scientific field methodology and equipment and basic water analysis. Fifth grade units focus on data collection and analysis, habitat monitoring, and human impacts on coast ecosystems.